Divine honors were declared to the memory of Claudius, after his death, and he was added to the number of the gods. The titles "Our Lord," "Our Master," and "Our God," were given to the Emperors of Rome, even while living.[126:9]
In the deification of the Cæsars, a testimony upon oath, of an eagle's flying out of the funeral pile, toward heaven, which was supposed to convey the soul of the deceased, was the established proof of their divinity.[127:1]
_Alexander the Great_, King of Macedonia (born 356 B. C.), whom genius and uncommon success had raised above ordinary men, was believed to have been a god upon earth.[127:2] He was believed to have been the son of Jupiter by a mortal mother, Olympias.
Alexander at one time visited the temple of Jupiter Ammon, which was situated in an oasis in the Libyan desert, and the _Oracle_ there declared him to be a son of the god. He afterwards issued his orders, letters, decrees, &c., styling himself "_Alexander, son of Jupiter Ammon_."[127:3]
The words of the oracle which declared him to be divine were as follows, says Socrates:
"Let altars burn and incense pour, please Jove Minerva eke; The potent Prince though nature frail, his favor you must seek, For Jove from heaven to earth him sent, lo! Alexander king, As God he comes the earth to rule, and just laws for to bring."[127:4]
_Ptolemy_, who was one of Alexander's generals in his Eastern campaigns, and into whose hands Egypt fell at the death of Alexander, was also believed to have been of divine origin. At the siege of Rhodes, Ptolemy had been of such signal service to its citizens that in gratitude they paid _divine honors_ to him, and saluted him with the title of _Soter_, _i. e._, Saviour. By that designation, "_Ptolemy Soter_," he is distinguished from the succeeding kings of the Macedonian dynasty in Egypt.[127:5]
_Cyrus_, King of Persia, was believed to have been of _divine origin_; he was called the "_Christ_," or the "_Anointed_ of God," and God's messenger.[127:6]
_Plato_, born at Athens 429 B. C., was believed to have been the son of God by a _pure virgin_, called Perictione.[127:7]
The reputed father of Plato (Aris) was admonished in a dream to respect the person of his wife until after the birth of the child of which she was then pregnant by a god.[127:8]